Those Canadian readers who fear their privacy may be violated by Street View's black spymobiles should take comfort from a Google statement which says the company has "gone to great lengths to ensure Canadians' privacy while enabling them to benefit from Street View on Google Maps".

It continues: "The feature only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads and blurs identifiable faces and licence plates. In addition, users can easily flag for removal images that they consider sensitive or inappropriate by clicking on the 'Report a problem' link at the bottom of any image.

"Google has consulted with Canada's federal and provincial Privacy Commissioners in developing Street View and its privacy safeguards."

And in case you're wondering how we know Street View's Orwellian Canada fleet is black, here's an example captured by Glenn Hunt as it tried to make good its escape from Toronto, round about here: